World' First Freight Marketplace www.freightaccess.com Set to Launch says Hollister

CHICAGO, IL:
August 31, 2010

Freight technology provider Freight Access, Inc. announced their company is nearing the anticipated discharge of the world's very first freight marketplace. The software engineering provider happens to be in exploration and development for more than two years to develop a platform for all stakeholders in the freight, cargo, transportation, trucking and logistics industry. Brad Hollister, the company's co-founder and Director of Business Development said "As a transportation executive who has a broad range of industry experience, we have identified the elements on the industry which cause problems for the stakeholders. We have focused on developing a suite of low cost solutions to help fellow transportation professionals have access to real time data to make informed and sound business decisions."

Freight Access, Inc. (http://www.freightaccess.com) has chosen to focus on exploring the difficulties of the freight industry from multiple perspectives as well as integrated solutions to all of them into a innovative and highly awaited tool for only $11 per month. Freight Access, Inc. touts its vision of truly helping the lives of transportation professionals as a result of making daily operations improved, enabling dispatchers and traffic managers to make better use of company resources and select only valuable transportation partners and reducing risk while seeking fresh freight partners.

Hollister stated "There are a lot of mis-conceptions in the industry pertaining to reducing transportation costs. Most former freight and carrier executives elect to take a position as a third party logistics provider or supply chain consultant, who are ready to teach shippers and manufacturers how to reduce transportation costs. The problem is these freight professionals themselves do not understand the forces the market plays on the freight industry, as they have come from a single carrier who focused on getting freight and adjusting pricing up and down to attract new shippers. These former LTL (less than truckload) and truckload vice presidents typically come and offer to take a freight profile, a company benchmark, and then send out a request for pricing with all carriers to get a 'bid' from all of them. The largest pricing requests I have seen include 150 or more carriers and take months to analyze. A seriously antiquated approach, which provides seriously limited results. The approach at www.freightaccess.com is different. Let's do this for every shipment. Let's get a new Request for Pricing for every single shipment sent out. This way carriers and owner operators win by filling empty trucks and shippers are able to benefit by filling empty capacity in real time."

Freight Access, Inc. has recognized a pattern in the freight industry throughout carriers during the previous market cycle. Quite a few Owner Operators have recognized that finding freight which pays for itself to transport is actually very difficult, consequently often times these independent truck drivers find themselves working for just one or several third party logistics firms or even national carriers. These ltl carriers or truckload carriers have got a primary interest in lowering the actual amount of money the drivers are getting paid so that their profits increase and frequently owner operators discover the actual amount they are actually being paid for a shipment is slightly able to cover costs of driving. Furthermore, many third party logistics firms have sprung up which are not paying drivers within tolerable terms, if at all in some instances.

The freight industry continues to be craving the low cost tools provided by Freight Access.com for some time. Steve Obregon, Owner Operator from Obregon Trucking in Wisconsin is a strong supporter of Freight Access's platform. "I've looked at what they're doing and can't wait to get going on it. I am sick of sitting for days for one of my brokers to call me with a load. I constantly call them to say you got one yet, you got one yet? It will so nice to find a load before I even get to the place and also to look about if I'm making or losing money on it."

Freight Access, Inc.'s freight marketplace technologies is at present finishing beta testing. If you're interested in becoming a beta tester, contact Freight Access, Inc. by calling 312-450-3020 or by emailing a request (with "BETA TESTER REQUEST" in the subject line of your email) to marketing@freightaccess.com.

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Cheap Freight Prices Leave Marketplace as Capacity Tightens and Shipments Increase for LTL Carriers

Frozen Food Express Industries (Dallas located refrigerated truck food carrier with truckload, less than truckload freight, and third party logistics solutions) released their financial outcomes for the second quarter of 2010. Frozen Food Express is truly a top nationwide leading temperature controlled truckload and less than truckload carrier in the domestic United States. The main focus of the carrier is to haul temperature controlled along with frozen perishables for the health care, confectionary, and food markets. The carrier also operates a third party logistics (3pl) division so as to exceed demands of shippers as well as other freight brokerage customers.

The Company's CEO suggested the carrier had put a higher focus on service excellence and asset utilization. Mr. Stubbs believes that the focus on preservation of moneymaking clients will improve margins in truckload and increase tonnage and shipment count on the less than truckload (LTL) division as well. A combination of an exodus of competitors and reduction in available capacity has improved the freight transportation and logistics marketplace. These types of economic elements permitted Frozen Food Express to lower their pre-tax loss by more than 41%.

Even with revenue only slightly up 9%, the use of existing equipment, increase in pricing, and lack of competition permitted for these enhanced final results. Regarding the previous six months however, the operating revenue had dropped even more than 3%. Tractor productiveness (measured by revenue per truck per week) was additionally up by a lot more than 4% during the quarter as the market has appeared in order to turn in the favor of the freight carrier. In 2009 Frozen Food Express mentioned they had made the decision to park a portion of their particular existing tractors until finally the marketplace came back. Now the carrier appears to be putting all of them back into operation as the industry continues to recover.

Shippers have in addition been prepared to react to the freight marketplace additionally. Carrier management say they have found a willingness on part of the shippers and logistics firms to adjust pricing in order to reflect the tightening marketplace. Truck Drivers returning to work will certainly aid the transportation industry returning to profitability as freight prices advance off of historically low levels. A lot of freight carriers have put into practice cost-saving techniques, as losses throughout the last number of years have been growing. Throughout second quarter of 2010, the majority of carriers have seen much better results from a combination of a positive freight pricing environment and results of these carrier cost saving techniques.

Frozen Food Express says a significant component of its success through these turbulent economic times have been the employees loyalty to the company and willingness to look for new efficiencies in virtually all phases of the operation. The carrier continues to possess a good cash position devoid of financial obligations outside of its credit agreement. Frozen Food Express possesses almost seven million dollars in cash, 83 million in investor equity and simply no outstanding debt. While the carrier is in a solid position to weather out the economic climate, the management is dedicated on continuing to manage its assets utilization as well as seek out even more operational efficiencies.

It seems freight carriers have regained a foothold in the transpiration industry. Several Carriers and third party logistics firms have reported far better than expected earnings and narrowed losses due to tightening capacity and lowered overhead. An economic recovery inside the freight industry definitely appears to be underway. Let's hope the momentum allows a continual economic recovery not only for freight and transportation, but also for the broader economy.

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Air Freight Volume Spikes 38% in 2010 as Air Carriers and Freight Forwarders Back in Black.

Its difficult to disagree that 2010 has become a very difficult year pertaining to transportation, freight, cargo and logistics industries. The majority of carriers, steam lines, railways, and truckers had been confronted with diminished freight volume, slim profits, and nearly all have experienced hard lay offs. A single section of the marketplace has performed surprisingly well on the other hand: Air Freight.

Air Freight volumes have increased almost 40 percent through the first six months of 2010. Global freight trends have indicated that Air Freight, and Freight Forwarding have exploded at almost three times the rate of ocean forwarding (ship cargo) for the first half of 2010, to the satisfaction of nearly all air freight management. The majority of freight forwarders would welcome this steep increase in business after 2009 which in turn proved to be a year of reduction in shipping and freight tonnage.

Transport Intelligence has announced that Air Freight is up more than 38% during the first six months of 2010, even while Ocean Freight Forwarding is up a mere 13 percent. Although most would accept any kind of good move in volumes at this point, the actual point that Air Freight reported such significant advances relative to Ocean Cargo leaves the marketplace in a holding pattern when waiting in order to watch if freight distribution can return to a lot more traditional levels. Transport Intelligence believes the increase in all these trends followed by freight carriers and cargo shiplines decision to limit capacity will be certainly putting pressure on shippers and their third party logistics companies to pay greater costs of operations. Transport Intelligence's Report may be found here (http://blog.freightaccess.com/2010/08/annual-global-freight-forwarding-report-2010-from-t-i/).

The Annual Global Freight Forwarding Report written by Transport Intelligence noted an increase in volume for the transportation marketplace felt by freight carriers, which followed a 23 percent drop in 2009 from 2008 shipment volumes. It seems this unpredictability in volume has not been simple to accept for freight forwarders and cargo carriers. Just six months ago a lot of of these third party logistics providers and airlines were concerned about how to sustain operations at trim staff levels and now they are actually slammed with far more freight shipments than they may handle with existing resources.

The freight marketplace is anticipating a balancing time period back to more historical freight volumes as well as absence of such shipment volatility. Most manufacturers have forgone conventional supply chain inventory because of to a range of factors such as absence of accessible company capital. The absence of inventory helps to explain the spike in air freight traffic. It appears that inventories will come back to regular levels throughout the up coming few years. Transportation Intelligence believes it will require until 2013 to be able to come back to pre-2013 levels especially in Europe.

Improved Security of Freight Cargo poses minor problems during first week of enforcement.

This week, the federal regulations requiring 100 percent screening of air cargo moving upon passenger aircraft went into effect. The majority of Freight Forwarders experienced little if any effect, as a lot more than 95 percent report no troubles throughout this first week. A lot more than 709 surveys were sent to the Air Freight Association looking to gain feedback concerning the actual simplicity of integration. Simply five percent of participants noted major complications adhering to the new guidelines, which were not correlated to any particular airline nor any airport.

The transition came at a really excellent period for the air freight marketplace as August is usually a slower month for airlines and freight carriers. The AFA attributes this smooth transition to the educational efforts and preparedness procedures put forth by the AFA, federal government, and numerous freight forwarders to ensure integration has been done properly.

FULL STORY HERE



By Brad Hollister

Ryder Claims Top Spot as Nation's Leading Third Party Logistics Provider

Ryder System, Inc., one of several world’s top logistics providers (with a wide range of services ranging from warehousing, technology innovation, and supply chain management) has been named the Premier Third Party Logistics company in Inbound Logistic’s yearly Quality Awards. During every one of the previous four years, Ryder has received the number one accolade which makes thirteen consecutive years of which Ryder Transportation has been regarded as a top five third party logistics company.

Each and every year, Inbound Logistics solicits ballots at the hands of readership which in turn tend to be faxed, e-mailed, completed on the web, as well as even snail mailed. Inbound Logistics received just under 10,000 votes, throughout the first two quarters of 2010. A Ryder spokesperson stated the company had been honored to be able to be acknowledged as the top third party logistics provider. In the latest years, Ryder has taken a more aggressive strategy to focus on operations as well as service, while seeking innovative solutions for shippers. Most of these solutions have lead to Ryder being awarded a recent patent related to their ground breaking Logistics Release process, along with building a Lead Warehouse Template which increases efficiencies throughout customer locations.

Ryder’s umbrella of services has grown in to multiple areas throughout the last several years. In addition to providing key logistics services created to maximize a shipper’s supply chain and reducing freight costs, Ryder has branched out into a number of different solutions. Ryder offers logistics solutions, supply chain optimization, technology solutions, warehousing platforms, and also some other consulting services. Ryder manages the flow of more than 20 billion independent parts per year, together with services to well over 47 automotive assembly factories. Ryder’s clientele portfolio has ballooned along with their particular strategic expertise. Ryder now services customers within a expanding number of markets which includes consumer electronics, telecom, high-tech, automotive, industrial, raw materials, consumer goods, paper, office equipment, retail providers in addition to food and many other sectors.

During the latest years Ryder has also grown operations into numerous countries with international freight and international transportation solutions. A specially large percentage of their emphasis continues to be on Mexico, managing a significant quantity of shipments crossing U.S. & Mexico border at the Loredo border crossing. Loredo, TX continues to be a strategic border crossing for Ryder, particularly in the Automotive Industry since a more substantial quantity of U.S. Automakers and parts suppliers expand operations in Mexico.

Ryder is a top rated provider of commercial transportation, logistics and supply chain management solutions company. www.FreightAccess.com has learned that Ryder is actually a member of the American Red Cross Annual Disaster Giving Program, helping national as well as local catastrophe preparedness and also response efforts. Ryder owns and operates a fleet of trucks (ranging from Vans, Semi Trucks, Flat Beds, Refrigerated Trucks, to moving vans and equipment available for rental by owner operator and other transportation professionals.

http://www.freightaccess.com is a freight marketplace where owner operators, truck drivers, owner operators, shippers, and freight brokers can go to fill empty trucks and find cheap freight. The World’s first true independent marketplace enables users to be able to conduct business in a truly independent manner sourcing only from the world’s best suppliers and make informed business and freight decisions to ensure ontime deliveries and reduction in damaged freight.

LTL Carriers Feel the Worst is Behind as Freight Loads Return

If we were to select one sector of transportation that went through the toughest economic situation during the last calendar year, we must absolutely choose Less Than Truckload Carriers (LTL carriers). With top LTL Carriers like Fed Ex Freight and Con-Way laying off personnel in addition to posting losses, there is no question Less Than Truckload Carriers have struggled.

Challenged by high fixed-costs on one hand and freight demand falling almost 30%, we anticipate a really difficult road ahead pertaining to the Ltl carrier industry. One of the problems is over capacity and empty trucks, despite freight quotes falling and cheap freight starting to be readily available. Many experts happen to be concerned just what could happen as soon as government stimulus capital injections cease and the actual supply chain demand coming from logistics companies, freight brokers, and shippers is left to a more normal, un-subsidized level.

The particular question uncovers basically to lower freight quotes to find freight for empty trucks, or to continue to run trucks with empty space. All Stakeholders in the Freight Industry: Shippers, Freight Brokers (Logistics Professionals), Owner Operators and Carriers similarly tend to agree that Less than truckload quotes are rising.
Freight Executives from Pitt Ohio Express have actually stated at this time there is no point in looking to broaden frontiers if you will not have the freight load capacity to satisfy demand. Analysts argue that boosting freight load volume, increased tonnage, and better LTL carrier discipline are all creating a better outlook for the growth of the Less Than Truckload segment.

On the other hand, other analysts consider that the likelihood of losing some carriers over capacity will not be a significant problem. "Most carriers have been running lean for the past 36 months." said Brad Hollister of Freight Access, Inc. "We have heard of the troubles of some of the larger carriers for sometime, but it appears that bond holders are not willing to cut their losses quite yet and are being patient in monitoring performance. This may have to do largely because of the state of the overall economy. Not only is there a lack of other investment opportunities, but there is virtually no market for liquidating assets, particularly in the used truck market."

Currently, it appears the LTL Carriers in the industry have definitely lasted through a challenging time. "Most companies are lean right now and virtually all are announcing better than expected results, which will continue to strengthen the sector going forward." said Hollister. Brad Hollister went on to say "The question remains who fast will rates continue to raise going forward as demand increases. It is the age-old question of raising rates sharply to capture profits or more moderately in order to regain market share. It appears that every carrier has a different philosophy so it will prove to be a marketplace filled with opportunities over the upcoming months."



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Less than Truckload Carriers Applaud the Exit of Cheap Freight as Capacity Tightens

If we were to choose a single segment of transportation which went through the worst financial situation during the last twelve months, we must pick Less Than Truckload Carriers (LTL carriers). With top Carriers such as Fed Ex Freight and Con-Way laying off personnel in addition to reporting losses, there is no question Less Than Truckload Carriers have struggled.

Challenged by high fixed-costs on one hand and transportation demand dropping virtually 30%, many of us expect to have a tough path ahead with regard to the Less than truckload carrier industry. One of the problems is over capacity and empty trucks, even with freight quotes falling and cheap freight becoming commonly available. Many experts happen to be concerned just what will take place once government stimulus capital injections cease and the supply chain demand from logistics companies, freight brokers, and shippers is left to a much more natural, un-subsidized level.

The question turns up quite simply to lower freight quotes to find freight for empty trucks, or to continue to run trucks with empty space. All Stakeholders in the Freight Industry: Shippers, Freight Brokers (Logistics Professionals), Owner Operators and Carriers similarly are inclined to agree that Less than truckload rates are increasing.
Freight Executives from Pitt Ohio Express have now acknowledged right now there is simply no point in seeking to expand frontiers if you do not have the freight load capacity to fulfill demand. Analysts content that boosting freight load volume, increased tonnage, and better LTL carrier discipline are all creating a better outlook for the growth of the Less Than Truckload segment.

On the other hand, some other analysts take into consideration that the likelihood of shedding a number of carriers over capacity will not become a major concern. "Most carriers have been running lean for the past 36 months." said Brad Hollister of Freight Access, Inc. "We have heard of the troubles of some of the larger carriers for sometime, but it appears that bond holders are not willing to cut their losses quite yet and are being patient in monitoring performance. This may have to do largely because of the state of the overall economy. Not only is there a lack of other investment opportunities, but there is virtually no market for liquidating assets, particularly in the used truck market."

At the moment, it seems the LTL Carriers in the industry have certainly made it through a demanding time. "Most companies are lean right now and virtually all are announcing better than expected results, which will continue to strengthen the sector going forward." said Hollister. Brad Hollister went on to say "The question remains who fast will rates continue to raise going forward as demand increases. It is the age-old question of raising rates sharply to capture profits or more moderately in order to regain market share. It appears that every carrier has a different philosophy so it will prove to be a marketplace filled with opportunities over the upcoming months."



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Latest Freight Technology Helping Carriers to Overcome Latest Transportation Regulations

August 2010
From: Freight Access, Inc.

Freight Industry Uses New Technology in Response to Greater Regulation

The freight industry is certainly undergoing numerous changes fueled by quite a few beneficial technologies which have been released lately and pending regulations. The CSA 2010 safety-scoring system along with the pending Electronic Onboard Recorder (EOBR) legislation are all but certain to take the place of the time consuming, paper log books utilized for many years. Even though onboard recording systems is often high-priced, the actual advantages and long term savings from these tools significantly out weight the upfront capital expenditure for carriers, asset based logistics firms, and owner operators in the short term.

Even though the final effects of a required participation in electronic onboard recording are being criticized by a few, a number of companies such as CR England as well as Old Castle are voluntarily adapting some of these most recent technology. These companies in addition to several other asset based logistics firms are viewing several advantages to these systems among them assistance with compliance of CSA 2010. Freight professionals disagree that EOBR’s can give drivers an capability to proactively improve safety and compliance with existing constraints as CSA 2010 might have a significant impact on their own individual driving records.

Electronic Onboard Recorder (EOBR) equipment are currently being recommended as improved fuel management and planning systems, automation of driver logs for truck drivers, fleet driver accountability along with data reporting which often helps in many departments for carriers from planning / routing to payroll as well as mileage reports. Executives believe mileage and fuel expenses can be reduced by close to TEN PERCENT in addition to the potential to objectively evaluate operations and better examine truck maintenance activity.
CR England had voluntarily adopted EOBRs well over one year ago. CR England recruits and also educates their very own freight drivers and have been exploring systems for making log books easier to maintain for new drivers, improving the Hours of Service violations and making log books simpler to manage from a distance. With proper evaluation and reporting, the organization was also able to strengthen planning and make use of of their trucks and assess fuel consumption in real time. The results CR England reported were nothing short of impressive. Log Book Infractions have been lowered by an amazing 63% and the truck driver out-of-service rate dropped by close to 75%.

CR England is looking to EOBR as its primary solution for compliance with CSA 2010. Executives understand utilizing electronic log books can eliminate or reduce the bulk of log book infractions. In addition to decreasing Hours of Service infractions, dispatchers can better manage truck drivers so that they are able to curb fatigue and practice safer driver practices while on the road.

Not all stakeholders in trucking share CR England’s enthusiasm for this latest technology . Many have suggested use of extreme care for several freight carriers learning CSA 2010. The latest regulatory system for analyzing compliance with the new safety regulations provides openness to all parties including plaintiffs’ law firms. The data accessible might lead to increased litigation as attorneys could attempt to relate accidents to driver scores and attempt to persuade courts to view carriers or drivers as historically careless, based on just a handful of violations.

Cutting edge systems will certainly continue to play an crucial role in the freight industry in the on-going future. Several cutting edge load matching platforms, dispatch programs, tracking systems will certainly have impact on the manner shippers, carriers, brokers, and owner operators conduct business in the future. It will be very important to evaluate technologies relative to new legislation to be able to make certain you are able to understand the issues facing the industry so you may be able to position yourself favorably among your competition.




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CR England is looking to EOBR as its primary solution regarding compliance with CSA 2010. Executives understand employing electronic log books can certainly eliminate or reduce the vast majority of log book violations. In addition to decreasing Hours of Service infractions, dispatchers can better manage truck drivers to ensure that they are capable to curb fatigue as well as practice safer driver techniques while driving.

Not all stakeholders in the freight industry promote CR England’s enthusiasm for this latest technology . Several have recommended use of extreme care for a lot of freight carriers learning CSA 2010. The new regulatory system for analyzing compliance with the new safety regulations gives visibility to all parties which includes plaintiffs’ law firms. The data accessible may lead to increased lawsuits as attorneys could possibly attempt to correlate incidents to driver ratings and attempt to persuade courts to view carriers or drivers as historically careless, based upon just a few violations.

Cutting edge technologies will continue to play an crucial part in the freight industry in the on-going future. Multiple cutting edge load matching websites, dispatch programs, tracking systems will certainly have impact on the manner shippers, carriers, brokers, and owner operators do business in the future. It will be essential to evaluate technologies relative to new legislation to be able to make certain you are able to understand the challenges facing the industry so you may be able to position yourself favorably among your competitors.

Idling Laws Impacting Trucking Industry by Brad Hollister (http://www.freightaccess.com)

Can Truck Idling a Serious Cause for Concern?

New Jersey’s Department of Environmental Protection ran a check August 2008 to find idling trucks and found over 100 trucks in violation of the state´s three minute idling limit idling intended for freight owner-operators.

Your first infringement for idling past the three minute restriction in New Jersey is $200, the second infraction will be $400, and for additional violations you are looking at over $1,000 fines. This has come to be a very polarizing problem for many in the transportation industry and trucking industry.

New Jersey is not the state to start imposing tough laws of which restrict idling. A minimum of 25 have current no idling rules which will limit truck driver's ability to leave trucks idling.
Quite a few truck drivers find these idling laws harassing. If they are the actual owner-operators of the actual rig, they are actually responsible for any fine, (in some instances, violations could be as much as $25,000 or in possibly possibly larger, as in the case of Massachusetts).

Some drivers actually enjoy the effects because of no-idle regulations so that they should be able to unwind in a more quiet atmosphere once they are off the road. Several Shippers have actually taken issues into their own hands. Hunts Point Cooperative Market (the world's biggest food distribution center) utilizes a personal security force to be able to support the state's five-minute idling restriction. A spokesman for Hunts Point mentioned that they had 1000s of trucks in there a day and also states they discover less than a few violations each week.

Connecticut has been a little more lenient. As soon as a driver is determined in violation, the vehicle's owner will have to inform the state's Bureau of Air Management in order to make sure actions are in place to make certain it will never occur again.

Massachusetts idling law includes an added element of protection to it's idling law. The state limits idling to less than five minutes except throughout tasks including pre-trip inspections. This way drivers are not penalized for carrying out a in depth examination of their equipment. Massachusetts happens to be a stringent enforcer of these kinds of regulation in the past . In August of 2009, The EPA penalized Materials Installations (a household furniture distribution corporation) a tremendous $109,120, for violations which produced more than 1,000 total idling minutes between 2003 and 2004.

On the other hand, non-diesel machines aren't restrained. Many freight load drivers are not as worried with the outcomes of no-idling restrictions due to the fact they are able to sleep away from the sounds of the traffic. Other truck drivers see this regulation as a method to gather revenue.

Just how much air pollution actually end up being lowered by simply no-idling of trucks?
Simply how much of this legislation which is applicable simply upon freight load idling may have an effect on pollution in the city is actually a good question. This is dependent a lot on what statistic one looks at. “A lot of the air quality programs are local, so to understand the benefits you have to look at the local problem,” says Suzanne Rudzinski of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. “In some areas it’s going to be more important than others.”

Global truck air pollution is actually moderately small compared to the complete motor pool in most urban centers. The actual problem is usually with certain areas of which are particularly impacted by freight and truck idling emissions. These areas may possibly gain considerable air quality from applying modest limitations of which don't need to result in substantial fines.

Brand new technologies have been released to provide a solution to several of these issues. Many drivers perceive the idling legislation as a matter of safety. The trucks usually need to be able to remain operating to heat and cool trucks while drivers sleep in safe conditions. The continuing legislation in the industry will continue to drive cost of doing business greater and make it more difficult for drivers in order to succeed in the difficult freight business.

By Brad Hollister
http://www.freightaccess.com